GO BEYOND! (Djursland 2026)
And with that the 2026 season, comes to an end, but we cannot end it off in silence. I will share my quali and race experience, give a thank you note, and finally give out the Drivers of the Weekend and Drivers of the Year award! Let's roll out with the Quali note!
Qualifications
Quali came with big promises! After some struggles in the track, I learned where I have missed out in the practices and I have pushed my way up to P4, missing out in P3 by Mason Bjerring who has also shown much potential over the weekend.
Race 1
Thanks to the best coaching from Elias Adestam, I was able to fight against the podium contenders while keeping the drivers behind me away. I was in hyperfocus during the race and it paid off to the maximum! Fighting with Bjornemalm, Bjerring, and Nielsen who was a fast rookie driver this weekend, it was a hard fought battle and was difficult with the rain and yellow flags around, but what mattered the most was that I kept control, I made sure the car didn't spin, and I made sure to follow the rules (to an extend) and eventually, it paid off with a beautiful P3 finish (First Overall Podium) and securing P2 in the Junior's standings, and it concluded our Saturday. What an amazing race indeed and I commend Bjornemalm for his fighting and extreme bravery during the race!
Race 2
This race came with more pressure, and a-lot of intensity. Even was kind enough to not let his crosskarting skills go awry and fight with me, and instead, I managed to pass him (while soiling my pants in the process) before fighting with Andreas Skatteboe, WHO WAS P1! Albin Gustavsson caught up of course, but unfortunately, the penalty track caught up to him and he was sentenced to be SECONDS away from me and Skatteboe which we both were absolutely flaming the track up! Fighting for P1! Exchanging blows and positions (strangely enough, the Danes did not like our hard fighting and decided to give me a penalty track for it?) but in the end, it was futile as I spun out and beached myself... Shite.
Race 3
Now, this race did not have the same peak as Race 1 or 2 but it still had the same fire. Me and Albin Gustavsson? We were fighting hard, so much so, that we even had some close calls at times, but we kept it clean and we decided that me finishing P4 was enough... WELL The Stewards said no! Cause Albin got a 10 sec time penalty for ignoring yellow flags I believe and well, I finished P3. Great Success. HOW UMAZING!!!
Thank you
To everyone who participated in the 2026 season, particularly, Bjornemalm for being a consistent player in the series and someone who has always been keeping up and following the same improvement level as I am. Because of that, we both managed to share some very good fights up to Djursland where we had some touchy touchy, but it was all done in fair game, and I'm sure we will make more in 2027.
Then comes Julius Gyllin, who was also made massive improvements this season, but he became some I consider a good friend within a sport. Funny? Sure. Crazy? A little, but a real driver? Definitely, considering what I saw during this Weekend. Thank you for the 2026 season.
Then comes the one and only, Elias Adestam, who has been coaching me for I believe the past 2 years now. Among those years, we shared some funny moments, we shared some sad moments, we shared moments where the hype was absolutely peak for the weekend, and I'm glad to deliver real results this weekend (Took me 3 f-cking years). Thank you Adestam for being a peak member of my racing career, and I will look forward to the 2027 season.
And more importantly, thank you everyone else in the series for their continued racing and passion. Aquila is the centerline, the collarbone, the heart of racing, where passion, learning, and real racing comes together, and this season has definitely shown that, with massive improvements from many drivers, such as Mason Bjerring, and Max Stjernelund. In addition, I want to thank all the Rookies for joining the 2026 season as their first season. This has been one of the best seasons, and I'm sure many will agree with me (Except Erik Blixt cause his first race literally involved him getting pinned down by a car.) and we will continue having this peak into 2027.
Thank you everyone, and see you in 2027
- Much Respects, Pete Norback
But, without further ado, let's get on with Driver of the Weekend and year
DOTW Juniors: Even Hoff Knai, Congrats to you for winning the championship and your fighting, resilience, and driving throughout the weekend was nothing short from spectacular, from catching P2 in R1, to beaching the wall in R2 but making a come back in R3, this was nothing short of amazing. Great job Even, and I will be glad to see what you do into the future.
DOTW Rookies: Carl-Wilhelm Bjornemalm. I don't think I have to explain myself, but I will anyways. This guy, won the frickin junior standings in R3. He kept his cool despite the extremely unpredictable conditions the track presented. It was peak. It was umazing, and most importantly, it's a telltail sign that we might see the driver of 2027. Great job Bjornemalm. See you in 2027.
DRIVER OF THE YEAR
This goes to the driver who has shown not only a firey soul on the track, with great discipline and race craft, but also, this is a driver who can be humorous and can bond with any driver off the track. This a driver who managed to show himself off so many times in the year that I forgot to look at the other drivers, but he is also someone who manages to make anyone laugh in seconds. This driver, is going to be none other than...
JULIUS GYLLIN
For showing off good race craft, fighting fair, and always having a great performance on-track while still being a respectful and jokeable person off the track. Julius, now that you're staying, we, at the Aquila Family, will be excited to see what you bring. Great job to Even for his Championship, Great job to Bjornemalm for his first Junior win and great job to Julius for his first podium this year, and with that...